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INSS MacArthur
|beam=90 m |draught=24 m |mass=empty: 9630 metric tons (estimated) loaded: 30541 metric tons (estimated) (44710 tons realistic) (68785 tons submarine) |crew=87 |engines= |jump= |gravity= |weapons=nose laser several laser cannons numerous torpedo launchers |defenses=Langston Field ablative shielding(armor) |power= |auxcraft=1-2 }} |Row 11 title = Crew Complement: |Row 11 info = unknown |Row 12 title = Auxiliary Craft |Row 12 info = Dropship/Shuttle: 1 Scout: 1}} The Imperial battlecruiser INSS MacArthur appears in The Mote in God's Eye. It belongs to the Second Empire of the humans which consists of more than two hundred worlds, over fifteen million cubic parsecs. History First Empire Sometime in the 21st century (*2120) humanity devastated the Earth and was on the brink of extinction when Dan Alderson made the Alderson jump Drive a reality. Humanity settled on numerous worlds and founded the First Empire around 2170. However, soon enough humanity found itself at odds with itself and civil war broke out. Secession Wars The secession wars lasted an unspecified time and devastated numerous worlds. Many of those that were still habitable force man to become savages. Even over 400 years later some of these worlds remained cut off from the rest of mankind. Others miraculously found their way back to the stars. A.D. 2870 The Ley Crater, a trading ship converted for war, with a working Langston Field and a hold full of torpedoes fell on New Scotland. With this new found technology they wiped out New Ireland. Second Empire Sometime 300 years after the Secession Wars the Second Empire was founded and intends to re-unit mankind by force if need be. A.D. 3017 New Chicago After a battle with rebel forces Blaine is promoted to captain and sent to escort guests to New Scotland and Sparta. Mote Prime Design elements & Technology FTL Human ships use the Alderson Drive, which allows them to travel instantaneously between "Alderson points" in specific star systems. Artificial gravity Human ships are build such that "on station" the ship rotates to create artificial gravity. The outboard wall becomes the floor. When traveling through normal space with acceleration the wall aft becomes the floor, hence, furniture and such are design to be relocate-able. Ships usually accelerate at one standard gravity. Civilian ships usually coasts while military ships always accelerate. Bridge The bridge has numerous consoles. It has an intercom system which connects to sections via switches. Hangar deck Wardroom The wardroom has a large round table. The microwave heater is an indispensable item for e.g. coffee. Food is prepared by the ship's cook who's usually a gunner. The ship's food stock consists of bioplast, yeast steaks, New Washington corn plant. Crew quarters Most crew quarters are berths. Only the captain, the executive officer, the ship's chaplain have a spacious stateroom. Each room has designated acceleration stations to be used during acceleration. Life support The ships has air adsorber converters, some type of recycling and filter system. Sick bay Ths ship's sick bay has regeneration stimulators to heal wounds. Computer system The ship's computer, also called brain, is some kind of semi-intelligent but no AI system. Power generation Power is provided by a fusion reactor which also serve to provide photons for normal space propulsion. Engineering Shields The ship has Langston Field shields which absorbs any type of energy and re-emits it. It absorbs, disperses and contains the kinetic energy of exploding gas or radiation particles or photon energies of lasers. The Field would begin to glow, its absolute black becoming red, orange, yellow, climbing up the spectrum toward the violet. As no light passes through the outside always looks black. In order to use sensors they have to be extended via mechanical arms or telescope beyond the shield's perimeter. Weapons *huge laser in the nose *numerous laser emplacements *hydrogen torpedoes fired from two forward torpedo roomsand at least one aft torpedo room gunroom Auxiliary Craft A boat, a wedge-shaped lifting body, which appears to be able to transport up to 30 passengers. It's presumed to have a two-man crew. Dimensions: *L: m *H: m *W: m A scout with delta wings. Dimensions: *L: 17.5 m *H: m *W: 13.5 m Treasures As a warship the ship has treasures (loot or victory prizes) such as tablecloth, silverware, plates, platters, crystal, etc. All have to be fairly durable due to the nature of the ship's mission. Known Crew *Fleet Captain Bruno Cziller: ex-captain promoted to brevet admiral. *Captain Roderick Blaine: ex-XO field promoted, aristocrat, to-be the 12th Marquis of his house *First Lieutenant Cargill: Executive Officer *Commander Jock Sinclair: Chief Engineer, from New Scotland *surgeon lieutenant *Stoker Jackson *Midshipman Staley *Midshipman Whitbread (junior midshipman) *Petty Officer Allot *Gunner Sergeant Kelley guests *Lady Sandra "Sally" Bright Fowler: Senator Fowler's niece, anthropologist **Servants Adam and Annie *His Excellency, Trader Horace Hussein Chamoun al Shamlan Bury: a Levantine, Magnate, Chairman of the Board of Imperial Autonetics, and something big in the Imperial Traders Association. **Servat Nabil, personal assassine Etymology/Apocrypha Most likely the ship's been named after wikipedia:Douglas MacArthur or wikipedia:Clan Arthur. Trivia *1967/68 Matt Jefferies was hired by ATM to design the modelkit "Leif Ericson" as part of the Strategic Space Command line. It includes the scout. *1975 Matt Jefferies introduced a variation as the Hyperspace Carrier Pegasus in the TV series based on THE WAR OF THE WORLDS. *1978 the cover artwork by Rich Sternbach *It appears some of the features outline above found their way into later Star Trek designs such as the Defiant clss and Class 2 shuttle. Also the scout ship has similar design features as the Klingon D-7. *The canceled game The Empire of Man featured a CG picture of the ship. *The novel has major influence in the makings of the Traveller game mechanics and universe. For example the ship's ability to refuel while skimming a gas planet's atmosphere or the Moties serving as blueprint for the Droyne. See also References Notes Citations Sources *Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, The Mote in God's Eye, 1974 External links *Project rho's dedicated page. Gallery Sscsplash.jpg|ATM modelkit Scout-0.jpg|ATM modelkit JeffConceptLeifErikson.jpg|Jefferies' concept art Scout.jpg|Jefferies' concept art MacArthurDetail.JPG|Rick Sternbach cover art